saying "the show, as a whole, makes great use of Chicago as a character, which in itself gives it a look and feel unlike other urban TV cop thrillers." IGN gave the pilot an 8.5 out of 10, noting that "Chicago Code comes off as a 'tale'. Almost as a city legend-in-the-making, with Scorsese-eque voice-overs in place, letting you know that this story, in a sense, has already happened." David Bianculli of NPR wrote that "[i]t borrows a little from The Wire, HBO's landmark series about entrenched, corrupted city institutions, and a little from EZ Streets, the vintage Paul Haggis cop series that gave equal weight to its good guys and its bad guys. But those are great places to start." Brian Ford Sullivan of The Futon Critic named the pilot episode the 13th best episode of 2011, naming it his favorite pilot of the year, and calling it "everything a television series should be: a toy box of well-rounded characters put in a distinct landscape with stories and attitudes that can be anything from funny to terrifying to heart-breaking, never knowing which is coming next". In 2019, Padraig Cotter from Screen Rant named the show "The best cop show nobody watched" and said about it: "Considering his experience with The Shield, Ryan was obviously the right pick for a new gritty new cop show that broke away from formula. The Chicago Code had a great cast, smart writing and it found a new approach to a genre that can feel a little played out." International broadcasts The series aired on Global in Canada concurrently with the American broadcast. It began airing in the United Kingdom and Ireland on Sky1 on May 12, 2011. References External links 2010s American crime drama television series 2010s American police procedural television series 2011 American television series debuts 2011 American television series endings American action television series English-language television shows Fictional portrayals of the Chicago Police Department Fox Broadcasting Company original programming Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television shows set in Chicago Television shows filmed in Illinois Works about Irish-American organized crime